This alone should be a strong argument for speedy repatriation efforts by Western countries to end the ability of ISIS to tug at the heartstrings of new and old supporters to still act from afar on behalf of this heinous group. Keep Reading
Sylejmani was detained overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and recently transferred into FBI custody. Sylejmani made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge [ADD] in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Keep Reading
On July 8, 2015, Al-Madioum left Morocco and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, and then on to Iraq and Syria, where he joined ISIS. In March of 2019, Al-Madioum was captured and detained by the SDF. Keep Reading
A former ISIS fighter who survived for years with the terrorist group in Syria has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges back in Texas and is likely headed to prison for a long time. Keep Reading
Tuberculosis, which he likely caught in the SDF prison, doesn’t have to be a life sentence with proper medical care which he didn’t have in NE Syria, but would have had in German prison. Keep Reading
The coronavirus pandemic has slowed global travel across the board. Countries around the world have cut down on air traffic, enforced quarantine measures for arriving travelers and blacklisted other countries from inbound travel. Keep Reading
Posted on Twitter and Facebook on July 10, 2014, by Nero Saraiva, a self-professed Portuguese Islamic State fighter already on the radar of Western security services, the cryptic message received little attention. Keep Reading
Omer Kuzu – a 23-year-old U.S. citizen captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces and returned to the U.S. by the FBI after a five-year stint handling communications for ISIS – pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to provide material support to terrorism. Keep Reading
The impact of trauma on radicalization and terrorist recruitment has only recently made its way into the collective psyche of counterterrorism researchers and practitioners and is still not well understood. Keep Reading
After the March 2019 fall of Baghuz, the last stronghold of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, more than 20,000 non-Iraqi or Syrian members of the group surrendered to coalition forces. Males were separated from their family members and imprisoned, while females and young children were moved to camps for displaced people. Keep Reading
If a recruiter can talk a person into terrorism, it is also possible to talk him back out of it. Keep Reading
Once a month, since being detained sneaking back across Turkish border from Syria two years ago, Hamza (all names used are pseudonyms) must check in at his local police station as he awaits his court appeal to a 6-year jail sentence. Keep Reading
On Jan. 21, 2019, a 16-year-old Kingston resident disclosed to a contact that he secretly supported the so-called Islamic State. He also hinted he was about to take action, saying he “may carry out a solo operation in the next few days.” Keep Reading
Shamima Begum, the British woman who joined ISIS as a teenager in 2015, is set to be allowed to return to the U.K. in order to challenge the government’s decision to strip her of citizenship. Keep Reading
One aspect that was given little attention concerns the connections which Balkan foreign fighters and recruiters established with their Diaspora in Western Europe. Keep Reading
A man who left London to join the Islamic State group in Syria has died while being held in prison in the country, the BBC has been told. Keep Reading
They were either brought, or born, into the terrorist group by their parents who served ISIS in various capacities. Keep Reading
Some died in Syria and some have made their way back home, but nearly 10,000 male FTFs, approximately 2,000 of them from Europe, are currently being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces. Keep Reading
The SDF acknowledges these escapes, most recently confirming Swedish news reports that ISIS women from the Netherlands, France, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden have all been smuggled out of the camp in recent months. Keep Reading
In some of these returnees, violence has been forsaken for the time being, but this Takfiri mindset is still present. Keep Reading